Excerpt/Giveaway–The Return of Brody McBride (The McBrides, bk 1) by Jennifer Ryan

                   Published March 4th 2014 by Avon Impulse – Add it on Goodreads

The black sheep of Fallbrook is back … and he's in for the surprise of his life.

Former bad boy, now-decorated Army Ranger Brody McBride is home and on a mission: Find the woman he never should have left behind and right the wrong he did eight years ago.

When the man she loved broke her heart and skipped town, Rain Evans picked up the pieces.

But along with heartbreak, Brody left her something infinitely better than she could have imagined: two beautiful daughters. One she gave birth to, and the other she rescued from the woman who helped destroy her relationship with Brody.

Brody is shocked to discover he's a father, and he's more determined than ever to win back Rain and protect his girls. Can they rekindle the love they once shared and become the family they were always meant to be? Or will a danger from their past return and ruin everything.

His peaceful night by the lake turned into a restless night tossing and turning in his empty bed and waking up in a cold sweat, fighting imaginary insurgents. That agonizing dream replaced the one where he’d been sliding his hand up Rain’s thigh, his hard cock thrusting deep inside her, as he locked his mouth with hers, waging war with his tongue for total possession of her. And God, he’d been hot and throbbing, her skin pressed to his. He could even taste her. Then everything changed. A bomb exploded, cutting off all sound but that eerie, muffled ringing and the sound of his harsh breaths. Rain was gone, and he was disoriented and surveying his surroundings, gun at the ready, trying to get his bearings and a read on the enemy.

Determined to go into town, he’d stood in the doorway, looking out at his new yard and driveway, drinking strong coffee. As soon as Jim, the contractor, showed up, he asked him to have one of his guys take him to Eli’s garage.

On edge, the morning got away from him. After speaking to Jim about the plans for the addition and the work to be done that day, he took several calls for work. By the time Jim’s man took him to town, it was past lunch. Before leaving, he took his pills, stuffed the bottles into his pocket just in case, and rode into town with a plan to get his truck, bust down Owen’s office door, and demand to know where to find Rain.

His truck wasn’t outside in the lot, so he went in through the open bay door. The truck sat in another stall against the far wall. He didn’t see Eli anywhere, but a pair of black work boots and legs in coveralls stuck out from under a Buick. Since the boots and legs were too small to be Eli’s, Brody figured the guy for one of the mechanics.

“Hey, man, have you seen Eli? I came to pick up my truck.”

A tool clinked on the cement before a long silent pause. Brody waited for a response from the owner of the small feet. When a pair of equally small hands grabbed the side of the car and the rest of the person slid out on a rolling cart, his heart stopped. Lying at his feet, Rain, dressed in a pair of dirty coveralls, a black ski cap on her head, and a stunned expression on her heart-shaped face. The garage was cold this time of year, her face was a little pale and her lips weren’t quite the rosy pink he remembered, but her eyes were that same shade of sable brown. With her pert little nose and big round eyes, she had always reminded him of a fairy, especially when she smiled. Which she wasn’t doing now. One perfectly arched dark eyebrow went up when he just stood staring down at her.

“Pop’s in the office. Keys are in the truck,” she said in that same husky voice that had whispered to him in the night.

“Rain,” he managed on a ragged exhale.

“Ah, you remembered.”

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JENNIFER RYAN, author of The Hunted Series, writes romantic suspense and contemporary small-town romances.

Jennifer lives in the San Francisco Bay Area with her husband and three children. When she isn’t writing a book, she’s reading one. Her obsession with both is often revealed in the state of her home, and how late dinner is to the table. When she finally leaves those fictional worlds, you’ll find her in the garden, playing in the dirt and daydreaming about people who live only in her head, until she puts them on paper.


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